Thursday, December 23, 2004
BISON BASH BIRDS
Bucknell jumped into the preseason running for the PL title with their victory over the Niagara Purple Eagles last night in Lewisburg. Niagara, you will remember, beat AU in a close game early in the season.
The Bison were both good and lucky to get Niagara's leading scorer and Canadian national hero Juan Mendez off the court with foul trouble. Mendez fouled out with 6 minutes to go, due to the efforts of 35 year old (okay, he's actually 22, but that's old) Bison sophomore Chris McNaughton. McNaughton is at this point the most dominant post player in a league that hasn't had a dominant post player for a couple of years. When there has been one, a la a Patrick Doctor or Pat Whearty, the rest of the league has gotten beat up.
This is a small conference, with small players. There's plenty of great guard play, but it isn't uncommmon to have a guy that would play the 3 or 4 in a larger conference playing the 5. That means that when a good post player does come along, he can dominate at the level of an Adonal Foyle. McNaughton could end up with player of the year honors, if he can maintain consistency, which has been a problem in his first 35 or so games. Keep an eye out.
AU takes on Maryland tonight, and I'm just hoping my Eagles can break double digits in the first half. I'll be in attendance with all the Bs of the Matt B family. If AU pulls the upset, you will see me on sportscenter, running around the Comcast center court like I was freaking Jimmy V. So be sure to catch that.
Enjoy your holiday, and stay safe. Merry Christmas. @ 1:44 PM
Bucknell jumped into the preseason running for the PL title with their victory over the Niagara Purple Eagles last night in Lewisburg. Niagara, you will remember, beat AU in a close game early in the season.
The Bison were both good and lucky to get Niagara's leading scorer and Canadian national hero Juan Mendez off the court with foul trouble. Mendez fouled out with 6 minutes to go, due to the efforts of 35 year old (okay, he's actually 22, but that's old) Bison sophomore Chris McNaughton. McNaughton is at this point the most dominant post player in a league that hasn't had a dominant post player for a couple of years. When there has been one, a la a Patrick Doctor or Pat Whearty, the rest of the league has gotten beat up.
This is a small conference, with small players. There's plenty of great guard play, but it isn't uncommmon to have a guy that would play the 3 or 4 in a larger conference playing the 5. That means that when a good post player does come along, he can dominate at the level of an Adonal Foyle. McNaughton could end up with player of the year honors, if he can maintain consistency, which has been a problem in his first 35 or so games. Keep an eye out.
AU takes on Maryland tonight, and I'm just hoping my Eagles can break double digits in the first half. I'll be in attendance with all the Bs of the Matt B family. If AU pulls the upset, you will see me on sportscenter, running around the Comcast center court like I was freaking Jimmy V. So be sure to catch that.
Enjoy your holiday, and stay safe. Merry Christmas. @ 1:44 PM
